Concentrations of human choriogonadotropin, its beta-subunit, and the core fragment of the beta-subunit in serum and urine of men and nonpregnant women. Clin Chem

Sensitive, specific time-resolved immunofluorometricas-says were used to measure the concentrations of human chonogonadotropin (hCG), free /3-subunit (/3-hCG), and the core fragment of j3-hCG (c/3-hCG) in serum and urine of men and nonpregnant women without evidence of cancer. Concentrations of hCG and /3-hCG were measur-able in 59-70 % of serum samples and in 50-59 % of urine samples. c/3-hCG was mostly undetectable in serum but measurable in 81 % of unne samples. Concentrations were higher in women than in men, and hCG concentra-tions increased with age. Therefore, reference ranges based on the 97.5 percentile were calculated separately for women and men and for those <50 and>50 years. However, concentrations of hCG correlated much more strongly with those of follicle-stimulating hormone tha